


The Fake Boyfriend

by imthehotgirl



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6908500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imthehotgirl/pseuds/imthehotgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared has been in love with his best friend Jensen ever since they were in the eighth grade. Jensen is still very much in the closet. Confusion, frustration and love bloom in unexpected places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the people in this fic. I'm just a writer wanting to tell a story.
> 
> This story has been crossposted elsewhere previously entitled 'Losing Control'. Same fic, same author, just wanting a bit of a change. Hope y'all like this one! :)

Jared Padalecki was a regular seventeen-year-old. A seventeen-year-old who had recently come out to his friends roughly three months ago.

Having come out as being into guys it wasn’t like Jared was suddenly expecting his best friend, Jensen Ackles to come to some earth shattering realization himself. Like maybe that he and Jared would be perfect together.

No. Just because Jared had had feelings for Jensen ever since they were in the eighth grade, didn’t mean that Jensen felt the same.

Jensen never made Jared’s sexuality an issue between the two of them. Their connection remained the same, Jared falling deeper with every passing day, while Jensen continued to be oblivious.

And straight. Maybe bi-curious if Jared was feeling especially masochistic. But he tried not to dwell on that aspect of their relationship (Jensen’s heterosexuality), instead focusing on how much time they spent together and how much fun they had when they were together.

That afternoon Jared looked up when Jensen walked by him, smacking him lightly in the back of the head before sliding in next to him at their usual lunch table. 

Their other friends, Adrianne Palicki, Sophia Bush and Chad Murray barely glanced upward at the interaction. They’d grown used to Jared and Jensen’s mutual inability to just have a normal conversation with one another.

Jared personally loved it. To him it meant that they understood each other so well that they didn’t need words to communicate. Well, most of the time anyway. There was still that whole issue of unrequited feelings.

“I haven’t missed anything, have I?” Jensen asked, directing his question at Jared, dunking his French fry in Jared’s ketchup even though he had some on his own plate.

Jared smiled half-heartedly at his friend, barely restraining himself from reaching forward and tucking a strand of hair that continued to fall in Jensen’s eyes back away from his face. 

Swallowing thickly, he felt the smile on his face was permanently plastered there. He loved knowing the reason that Jensen had started growing his hair out in the first place was just because Jared had suggested it. At the time, Jensen had teased him, insisting that Jared didn’t want to be the only guy in their group of friends sporting what Jensen now affectionately referred to as ‘princess hair’. What Jensen didn’t seem to understand was that Jared would’ve willingly been Jensen’s princess if it meant…shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, he instead returned his focus to the present and his friend’s question.

“Not really. Sophia was just telling us about her latest crush on the new girl, Danneel Harris,” Jared replied.

He watched in amusement as Jensen began shifting next to him, his tongue making an unconscious appearance wetting at his lips. And then as if it’d been scripted, Jared continued to take in Jensen’s outward body language, his own smile broadening when his friend began smirking. He loved that he knew Jensen so well that he could pick up on his friend’s nervous ticks.

“Can’t say I blame ya, Soph. She’s in my AP English class. And she is hot,” Jensen insisted, catching Jared looking at him and winking at him.

Jared bit back the sudden flare of jealousy that overwhelmed him at Jensen’s words. He’d grown used to Jensen developing crushes on random girls over the years. His infatuation with whichever girl appealed to him any given week normally didn’t last very long and he was soon back by Jared’s side where he belonged before too long. So Jared knew the jealousy he was currently experiencing, although expected was an entirely unnecessary emotion. 

Catching Sophia’s equally annoyed look at Jensen’s words, Jared gave her an empathetic smile. He returned his attention to Jensen, unable to wipe the amused expression off his face. This whole ordeal was entertaining if nothing else, especially since Jared knew without a doubt that nothing would ultimately come of Jensen’s crush on this girl.

Jensen shook his head at him, poking Jared in the chest as he spoke. “Fine, you doubter. I’d be more than happy to prove my feelings for this girl aren’t purely physical. That’s why I’m gonna ask her out.”

“What!?” Jared and Sophia yelped in stunned unison at Jensen’s sudden change in his normal behavior when it came to situations like this.

Feeling a lump rise to his throat, Jared watched in disbelief as Jensen stood up and made his way over to Danneel. He continued to take in the scene in front of him, saw Jensen put a hand gently on her shoulder, watched as Danneel’s wariness quickly morphed into delight upon recognizing Jensen.

Jared felt his stomach tighten uncomfortably when Jensen leaned toward Danneel, whispering in her ear and making her laugh.

“God, I think I’m gonna be sick,” Sophia moaned, slumping into the spot Jensen had vacated only moments earlier.

Tearing his gaze away from Jensen long enough to glance in his friend’s direction, Jared balked at Sophia’s appearance. Her face was as white as a sheet and tears were welling in her eyes the longer she watched Danneel and Jensen interact with one another.

“Dammit, Soph. C’mere,” he muttered, pulling her close, kissing her head as he felt her shudder against him. He sighed heavily, running his free hand through his hair, numbness seeping into his bones when Jensen took a hold of Danneel’s hand and led her back toward them.

“Screw this bullshit,” Adrianne growled, tossing her half-eaten, lukewarm pizza back onto her tray before getting to her feet, quickly rounding the table until she was kneeling in front of Jared and Sophia. “The four of us are gonna hang out at my house this afternoon, okay? The two of you can bitch and moan or get gushingly lovesick all you want then, all right?” she insisted.

“The four of us?” Chad piped up, his confusion evident.

Adrianne rolled her eyes, motioning for Chad to join them. “Chad, get over here, you moron.”

Chad rounded the table, sitting down on Jared’s other side. “Is there a reason behind this impromptu meeting?” he replied, raising an eyebrow in Adrianne’s direction.

“Sophia and Jared just need to get their minds off certain things, so I told them they could hang out with us,” Adrianne said, staring meaningfully back over her shoulder at Jensen and Danneel who were slowly winding their way through the cafeteria, still holding hands.

Chad flashed Adrianne a lazy smirk. “We’re an ‘us’ now? If you wanted to jump my bones, Palicki, all you had to do was ask, sweetheart,” he said, puckering his lips at her.

“God, you’re disgusting. No girl in her right mind would want to date you if that’s what you’re calling your ‘A’ list material,” Adrianne muttered with a snort, rolling her eyes again as an exasperated smile graced her features the longer she stared at Chad.

“Sounds good, Adrianne,” Jared agreed, ignoring the exchange between the two, giving her a grateful smile.

“Yeah, I’m in too,” Sophia replied, her eyes softening when Adrianne got to her feet, leaned forward and kissed Sophia’s hair.

“Great. I hate seeing two of the sweetest people I know suffering like this,” Adrianne murmured, squeezing Jared’s hand before making her way back to her seat, Chad following at her heels, slumping over his lunch tray once again. Picking up his spoon he eyed the mashed potatoes and gravy on his plate warily.

Just before Jensen and Danneel reached their table, Sophia pulled away from Jared’s hold, quickly raked a hand through her hair and punched Jared on the shoulder.

“Act happy, doofus,” she muttered, giving him an encouraging smile. “I don’t look like I’ve been crying, do I?” she asked, wiping at her face.

“No, but you do have a piece of broccoli stuck in your teeth,” Chad said in what he thought was a helpful manner. Sophia paled at his words, frantically beginning to pick at her teeth.

“She does not, you jackass! Apologize!” Adrianne exclaimed, slapping Chad in the back of the head when he started laughing.

“Ow! That hurt! Jensen never hits Jared that hard when he does it,” Chad whined, rubbing the back of his head, quickly mumbling an apology to Sophia.

“How the hell would you know?” Jared demanded, narrowing his eyes at Chad.

Chad clucked his tongue, shaking his head. “Careful, Jay. You almost sounded jealous there. If I didn’t know better I’d think you wanted some of this,” he said, motioning to himself, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and smirking at Jared.

Jared snorted, rolling his eyes. “Your ego, man. They’ll have to add an extra wing just to house it when classes are in session.”

“Ouch. Your words hurt, Jay,” Chad grumbled, pouting.

“Oh my God. Oh. My. God! That’s it!” Adrianne suddenly exclaimed loudly, hitting Chad in the shoulder repeatedly in her excitement.

“Jesus, woman. You’re trying to send me into traction, is that it?” Chad asked, rubbing at his shoulder.

Adrianne just shook her head, dissolving into a fit of the giggles. “I’ll tell you later. Promise,” she said.

“We’re not interrupting anything, are we?” Jensen asked, an amused grin on his face as he took in the sight before him. Adrianne clammed up almost immediately, blushing as she shot Jared an empathetic look.

“Never,” Jared reassured him, giving Jensen a warm smile as he struggled to fight back the nausea at seeing his best friend’s hand still clasped with Danneel’s.

He heard Sophia draw in a sharp breath and knew from her nearly inaudible whimper that she was trying not to sob. Unable to rip his gaze from Jensen’s he blindly reached under the table, grasping at Sophia’s fingers until she grabbed onto his hand.

Jared felt relief flood him when Jensen slid in next to him, their legs touching underneath the table just like they had every time before this reasserted journey of heterosexuality Jensen was insistent on riding.

Before he was quite prepared for it, Jensen was leaning even closer to him and whispering in his ear. “How about we get out of here, huh?”

And then Jared was being hauled to his feet, Jensen throwing an arm over Jared’s shoulders. Blinking stupidly for a moment, he glanced back at their lunch table only to see Danneel pull Sophia closer to her, muttering something about them having to have more in common than just being lab partners. 

Catching Sophia’s eye, he grinned at her, mouthing: “Good luck!” as Jensen steered him out of the cafeteria.

**

Jensen had cut class a handful of times. And more often than not Jared was with him.

Glancing over at Jared, he gave his friend a small smile. Jared returned it with one of his own before clearing his throat.

“So Jen, what’d you want to talk about?” he asked as Jensen pulled his truck out of New Haven High’s parking lot.

“I’ll tell you once we get to The Road,” Jensen reassured him, placing a hand on Jared’s thigh as he drove.

Growing up in a small Texas town like New Haven, there wasn’t a whole lot for teenagers to do to keep themselves busy let alone entertained. Luckily the local bar and grille The Road managed to help alleviate boredom for a few hours at a time. It earned a few bonus points for being the only ‘adult establishment’ around for miles that didn’t card.

Not to mention all the obvious jokes about ‘doing it in The Road’ that at least got Jared to give Jensen a brief smile of appreciation after all this time, if nothing else.

Once they reached The Road Jensen parked his truck, cut the ignition and climbed out of the driver’s seat.

“Come on, man,” he called to Jared, twirling his key chain on his finger for a moment before pocketing the keys. He’d reached the front of the building and was propping the door open, strains of some country song he was unfamiliar with drifting out into the parking lot when Jared finally joined him.

“You know there’s no need for you to get all pretty for me, Jay. I love you just the way you are, honey,” Jensen told him, winking at him and chuckling as he let Jared cut in front of him.

“Bite me,” Jared retorted with a snort, giving Jensen an obligatory eye roll as he passed him.

“There’s that snarky attitude I love so much,” Jensen said, his hands landing on Jared’s shoulders as they made their way further into the bar. “You want a beer?” he asked, after they’d picked a table.

“Sure,” Jared agreed amicably. Jensen nodded in understanding, patting Jared on the back before making his way toward the bartender.

After ordering their drinks, Jensen’s eyes roamed around the bar, naturally settling on where Jared sat waiting for him. Shifting his weight on his feet, he reached up, running a hand through his hair. His gaze softened the longer he watched Jared. His friend had pulled his phone from his pocket and was texting away with someone. Adrianne or Sophia, if Jensen had to hazard a guess.

As joined at the hip as the two of them were, Jensen knew that the girls were just as important to Jared. And Chad, well, Chad was just Chad. There was no explaining him. A person just had to experience him firsthand to truly grasp what kind of person he was.

Sighing heavily, Jensen closed his eyes briefly, suddenly feeling incredibly grateful for their little group of friends. Jared would need them after…well, he’d just need their support, that much Jensen was sure of.

Taking their drinks back over to their table, Jensen handed Jared his beer, easily sliding into the chair across from his friend, breathing deeply before taking a liberal swallow from his own bottle.

“All right, Jen, you’ve dragged this out long enough, don’t you think? What’d you bring me here for?” Jared asked carefully, raising an eyebrow in Jensen’s direction.

Ducking his head, Jensen felt a smile curl his lips and a swarm of butterflies flood his stomach. Swallowing thickly, he raised his head again, meeting Jared’s inquisitive gaze.

“Okay, Jared, this is gonna sound crazy, but I knew I had to tell you right away, you know? I mean, you’re my best friend. If I can’t share the big things with you…I just…,” he replied.

“Go ahead, Jensen. I’m listening,” Jared said, giving him an encouraging nod.

“Yeah. Jared, I, I’m in love,” Jensen admitted aloud, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders at the admission.

“You are?” Jared asked warily, affection and understanding flooding his features. At least, Jensen figured it was understanding because honestly, what else could’ve it had been? Relief flooded him upon Jared’s positive reaction. He really didn’t give Jared enough credit. His friend was taking this news a lot better than he would have, had their roles been reversed.

“Yeah, I mean, I know I just met her a few weeks ago, but ever since I met her I feel like I’ve known her all my life. Crazy, right?” Jensen asked, an amused expression cutting across his features.

“Wait. Who’re you talking about?” Jared demanded hoarsely, his gaze narrowing.

“Danneel,” Jensen said.

Jared closed his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath through his nose. When he opened his eyes again, he averted his gaze from Jensen’s, instead turning his attention to the beer bottle in front of him. He began almost absentmindedly to pick at the label.

“You love her, huh? That-that’s great, man,” he said woodenly, letting loose a broken laugh.

“Jared? Hey, look at me a minute,” Jensen insisted, his brow furrowing as he reached out, touching Jared’s arm lightly. When Jared finally lifted his head, his bangs fell into his eyes and Jensen moved forward, pushing his friend’s hair out of his face. “Jay, the reason I brought all of this up is because I wanted to be honest with you. And I promise you just because I’m seeing Danni it won’t change what you and I have, all right? We’ll still hang out just like we always have.”

“Um, yeah, okay. Listen, Jen, I really…I really can’t be here right now,” Jared said, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Jensen nodded in understanding, trying his best not to appear hurt by the unspoken yet true meaning of Jared’s words: “I really can’t be with you right now.”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” he finally asked.

“Adrianne’s. She, Sophia, Chad and I have this-this project for Creative Writing we’re working on. You mind dropping me off there?” Jared mumbled.

“Yeah, no problem,” Jensen immediately agreed, getting to his feet. Sighing heavily, he gave Jared a reassuring smile. He hoped when enough time passed Jared would see that Jensen was telling the truth. He couldn’t imagine his life without Jared being a part of it. And he knew without even having to voice it, that he never wanted to find out.

**

When Jensen pulled into Adrianne’s driveway Jared immediately reached for the door handle, anxious to make a quick exit. But Jensen had other ideas. He put a hand on Jared’s shoulder to stop him.

“Whoa, slow down a minute, Jared. Would you uh, would you mind telling Sophia that I’m sorry? I know how much Danneel means to her,” he asked, the hand not on Jared’s shoulder rubbing along the back of his neck. Yet another little nervous habit he possessed.

Jared swallowed back another lump that was quickly making its way up his throat. Then why the hell are you doing it? He thought desperately.

But he didn’t say that. Instead, he played the role of dutiful best friend because it was expected of him.

“I guess so, but I don’t know how much it’ll help coming from me,” he replied honestly.

Jensen nodded. “Yeah. Thanks anyway, man,” he said, squeezing Jared’s shoulder, giving him a strained smile as Jared finally climbed out of the truck.

Jared waved to Jensen, watching as his friend pulled out of the driveway. Turning toward Adrianne’s backdoor he found that he couldn’t hold the tears back anymore.

The five of them had been friends for so long that they didn’t think twice about just walking through each other’s backdoors and making themselves at home.

“Hey, Jared. I was wondering when you’d show up. Where’s Jensen? That was his truck out back, right?” Adrianne asked distractedly as she filled up a pitcher with iced tea, in full-on hostess mode. When she turned around to face Jared, her eyes widened in surprise. “Oh my god, sweetie. What happened?”

Biting back a sob, Jared felt his bottom lip tremble as he struggled to put into words how he was feeling, and what had transpired between himself and Jensen earlier that afternoon.

“Jensen…he-he doesn’t…It wasn’t…” he stammered, trailing off as he wiped at the tears making their way down his face.

Adrianne pulled him into her side, her arm wrapped around his waist. “We’re here for you, okay? Whatever you need. And so you don’t have to go through this more than once, meet me, Chad and Sophia downstairs in a few minutes,” she instructed softly, ushering him toward the bathroom.

Jared gave her a shaky, grateful smile. “Thanks, Adrianne.”

Once she’d closed the door behind him, he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, running everything that’d happened that day through his head.

Sighing heavily, he splashed water on his face to remove evidence that he’d been crying. Finally feeling somewhat normal, he made his way through the Palickis’ house and into their furnished basement.

“Hey, guys,” he said in way of greeting, smiling half-heartedly as he collapsed onto the couch next to Sophia.

“Adrianne tells us you’re having issues with Jensen?” Chad asked, raising an eyebrow in Jared’s direction, his feet propped up on the coffee table. 

“Subtle, Chad,” Adrianne muttered dryly, shaking her head at her friend’s crassness.

Jared quickly filled them in on what had happened between him and Jensen earlier that afternoon.

“It’s too bad that Jensen knows neither of us is bi, Jared, otherwise I could pretend to be your girlfriend,” Sophia said, flashing Jared a sad smile, looping her arm through his as she rested her head against his shoulder.

Adrianne chuckled, shaking her head again, getting up from the edge of the couch where she’d been perched as she began pacing the room. Jared gave her a wary smile as he watched her run a hand through her hair before she suddenly stopped pacing, flashing a devilish smirk at her three friends who remained seated on the couch.

Jared wasn’t sure how Sophia and Chad were feeling, but Adrianne was making him uneasy. No. Scratch that. She was scaring him.  
The last time he’d seen her behave so erratically was shortly after she’d discovered she was going to be Harper Evans’ understudy in The Three Billy Goats Gruff play their class had put on in third grade. She’d thought she’d been a shoe-in for the role of the third Billy goat, but apparently their teacher, Ms. Simms had other ideas. Jared still missed the X-Men pencil case Adrianne had flung into the lake on their walk home upon discovering that she hadn’t gotten the part. But it hadn’t been a total loss. For Jared at least. Jensen let him share his Spiderman pencil case for the rest of the year.

“You know, it’s funny you would suggest pretending to be Jared’s girlfriend, Soph. I’ve actually come up with a plan to make Jensen jealous by having Jared spend all of his time with another guy. A guy we all know really well,” she said pointedly, her crafty grin melting into a smile of pure amusement.

“Adrianne, this is perfect!” Sophia exclaimed happily, practically bouncing on the couch in her excitement. “With Jensen getting jealous and having to prove to himself that he and Jared are still best friends he’s bound to realize his feelings run deeper than he thought. And it leaves me to spend even more time with Danneel, to show her what we can have together,” she said, pulling Jared into a hug.

“Jared, what do you think?” Adrianne asked him.

Jared shrugged, grinning at the girls. “All I can see is upside.”

“Okay, that’s great and all, Jay, but really…come on. What poor schmuck are you gonna get to agree to this little game of deception?” Chad demanded in self-assured disbelief. Jared could tell the minute Adrianne’s words fully sunk in for him however as the cockiness slowly faded from Chad’s expression. “Oh, no. No, no, no, no. There’s no way in hell I’m doing this,” he insisted, shaking his head profusely.

Jared nodded miserably, sighing heavily. “Okay, Chad. But you’ll be the first person I call at three in the morning to complain about how lonely I am without Jensen. And I know Sophia wouldn’t hesitate to do the same concerning Danneel.”

Chad groaned, running a hand over his head. “All right, fine. I hate you though…all three of you.”

“Yeah, sure you do,” Jared quickly agreed, laughing. He’d known after the day he’d had that spending time with his friends was exactly what he needed to make himself feel better. And he was glad they were only too willing to help him smile again.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Jensen sat in his truck waiting for Jared to come out his backdoor so the two of them could ride to school together. It’d become somewhat of a weekly tradition for them having Jensen drive Jared to school. A nice way to begin their Fridays, a postgame wrap-up of sorts before their weekend started. 

Jensen chuckled softly as Jared suddenly came flying through the door, trying to untwist his jacket and pull it on without dropping his backpack which was slung over one shoulder or let go of the death grip he had on his cell phone. 

Flinging open the passenger side door, Jared unceremoniously threw his backpack to the floor of the cab and clambered into the truck.

“Dammit, Jen, I’m sorry I’m late. Again,” he grumbled, yanking his seatbelt on, and shutting his door behind him.

Jensen just continued laughing, shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it, Jared. But you know what? It seems like we could use a little Daniel Bedingfield to start this day off right, huh?” he asked, starting up the song He Don’t Love You Like I Love You, a song which the two of them had made up ridiculous hand gestures and movements to, to accompany the lyrics back when they were just Freshman at New Haven High.

As silly as it may have been Jensen knew that it was exactly what his best friend needed to put a smile on his face. And before long Jared was laughing along with him, which made Jensen feel like he’d won.

A few minutes into their drive Jared’s phone lit up, alerting him to the fact that he had an incoming text.

“Who is it?” Jensen asked, his curiosity getting the better of him when he saw the small smile on Jared’s face.

“Chad,” came the soft reply. When Jared looked up at him again, Jensen couldn’t help but notice the hair falling into Jared’s eyes or that his friend’s eyes were softening even further at the edges after having received a text from their mutual friend.

Swallowing thickly, Jensen nodded curtly. And instead of responding in the surly negative way he wanted to at having his precious time with Jared interrupted, he sang along with Daniel Bedingfield to get his feelings on the matter across to his best friend.

“But he don’t love you like I love you.”

Jared snorted, shaking his head, grinning broadly in amusement.

“Nobody does, Jen. Chad just…he’s concerned about me,” he finally said, pocketing his phone.

“Right,” Jensen quickly agreed, pulling into the high school’s parking lot. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Jared reaching out to their friends so he wasn’t dwelling on not spending as much time with Jensen…so he wasn’t lonely?

Shaking off the unease that he was suddenly feeling, he turned toward Jared, covering Jared’s hand with his own, squeezing it briefly before letting go.

“So, Danni and I have plans tonight, but Saturday is wide open. And it’s all yours. We can do whatever you want,” he insisted, flashing Jared a bright smile.

Jared cringed. “Dammit. I wish I’d known that sooner, Jensen. Chad and I have plans already. We’re going to the comic bookstore. But you and Danni have fun, okay?” he insisted, an encouraging smile on his face.

The smile on Jensen’s face slowly faded. “Wait. You and Chad have plans? Since when does Murray enjoy spending time at the comic bookstore? I thought…I mean, that’s our…” he trailed off feebly catching sight of Jared’s bewildered expression. Clearing his throat, he gave Jared another smile, this one more forced. “No, no, you’re right. Go have fun with Chad this weekend. I, uh, I’ll text ya, huh?”

“Sure, sounds good, Jen. Look, I gotta go. Chad and I have that project to help the girls finish up,” Jared said, patting Jensen on the arm before climbing out of Jensen’s truck.

“Right, you have to meet…” Jensen began, flinching slightly as Jared slammed the truck door behind himself before making his way through the parking lot. “Chad,” Jensen grumbled, running a hand roughly through his hair as he leaned back hard into the driver’s seat, watching as Jared walked away from him.

**

Jared met Chad in front of his locker.

“Hey, so thanks for that text earlier. Looks like we’re already on the way to making Jensen jealous,” he said, grinning broadly at Chad. “Or confused at least.”

“Awesome, I guess. Uh, look Jay, can we go somewhere and talk in private?” Chad asked, shifting his weight back and forth on his feet.

“Dude, what’s with you?” Jared asked, his eyes flooding with mirth.

“Let’s just go!” Chad growled, pulling Jared by the wrist through the hallway until they reached the library.

“What’s wrong with this picture? Oh, that’s right! I’m usually the one dragging your ass in here,” Jared muttered sarcastically, doing his best to stifle his giggles.

“Shut up!” Chad snapped irritably, running a hand over his face in frustration as he began pacing in front of an aisle of books.

“Chad, are you okay, man?” Jared asked, his brow creasing into a frown the longer he watched his friend have his own version of a freak out.

“I’m fine. At least that’s what I’m trying to convince myself of, ya know? I just…” Chad trailed off, groaning as his anxiety mounted.

“Out with it. You’ll feel better,” Jared insisted.

“Okay. So, this whole fake boyfriend thing, it uh, it’s gonna have to involve PDA to look realistic, right?” Chad blurted out, his face reddening as he gave Jared a nervous smile.

“Essentially…yeah,” Jared replied in agreement, nodding.

Chad nodded emphatically, running his hands over his head, drawing in a sharp breath. “Right, that’s what I figured.”

“Hey, look, man, if you don’t want to do this we don’t have to,” Jared said.

“Really?” Chad asked, unable to keep the hope from leaking into his voice. “What? No. No, dammit. We’re doing this, Jay. We’re getting you your man. Count on it. I just, I need to find my balls, that’s all.”

Jared snorted, shaking his head. “Whatever. If it makes you feel any better I’ll be thinking about Jensen the whole time. And hell, you can think about Katie Holmes for all I care,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.

“Screw that. I’m gonna be thinking about Adrianne,” Chad admitted, his eyes reflecting a vulnerability he normally didn’t allow anyone to see.

“Hah! You have the hots for Adrianne! I knew it!” Jared crowed triumphantly.

“Please don’t make a big deal about this,” Chad pleaded.

Seeing his friend was genuinely terrified, Jared’s gaze softened. “Relax, dude. I’m not gonna tell her if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Chad scoffed, his bravado returning. “Of course not. I just want you to know I’m a pretty amazing kisser. And I’m just afraid you’re gonna forget all about Jensen once this is over,” he said, leering at Jared.

“Sure you are. Your concern for me is overwhelming,” Jared agreed, shaking his head again. It still astounded him how quickly Chad could change gears sometimes. “So, hotshot, you want to practice this or what?” he asked drily.

“What the hell? I’d rather be skipping Chem for something important like making out with my gay best friend rather than actually attend class,” Chad replied.

Jared smiled, moving forward until the two of them were inches apart.

“Hi,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Jesus, Jay. Don’t be gaying this up even more by turning this into a friggin’ chick flick,” Chad muttered, rolling his eyes before pulling Jared’s head down, their lips meeting softly.

Huh. So this must be what Emma Watson was talking about when she described kissing Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint during filming of the final Harry Potter movies. It is just like kissing my brother. Weird. Jared thought to himself as he and Chad kissed.

When they broke away from one another, Chad raised an eyebrow.

“So, was that as hot for you as it was for me, Jarebear?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“God, Adrianne was right. You are disgusting,” Jared said.

“I try,” Chad said with a shrug, smirking at Jared. “So, the ball’s in your court here, Jared. Do you want to keep up the ‘getting closer than close friends’ angle or do you want to move it into high gear ‘boyfriend’ mode?”

“Let’s just keep it a little low-key for now, okay? See how things play out between Jen and Danni at lunch and then take things from there,” Jared suggested.

“Works for me,” Chad agreed with a nod.

Jared sighed heavily. “Thanks for helping me, Chad. I honestly don’t know how I would’ve survived all of this by myself.”

“Don’t worry about it, man. Adrianne, Sophia and I…we’re here for you no matter what. People wouldn’t constantly be saying ‘that’s what friends are for’ if it weren’t true in some regard, right?” Chad asked him.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It just means a lot to me that’s all,” Jared said, giving Chad a tired smile.

“Yeah, I know, man. I know,” Chad said, his hand coming up over Jared’s shoulders as they walked out of the library together.

** 

The following Tuesday night Jared was stretched out across Jensen’s bed, his eyes flitting over the TV screen, but more often than not, focusing in on his phone almost as if he were expecting a call or text.

“You could just call him you know,” Jensen suggested, doing his best to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“Call who?” Jared asked, obviously startled out of his thoughts as he met Jensen’s gaze.

“Chad,” Jensen said pointedly.

“Why would I want to call him?” Jared asked warily.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because he’s all you’ve been talking about since Friday? Are you guys like best friends now or something?” Jensen sneered, unable to keep the hurt and anger out of his voice that time.

Jared looked taken aback at Jensen’s tone. “It’s not like that, Jensen. You have to know that. My relationship with Chad…it’s just different than ours. We’re special,” he said.

“Yeah, we are, aren’t we?” Jensen murmured, feeling himself relax at Jared’s words. So he wasn’t being replaced. Good. He thought to himself.

“Definitely. Thanks for inviting me over tonight, Jen,” Jared said.

“Anytime, Jay. I know it’s only been a few days but it feels like we haven’t spent any quality time together in weeks. I’ve missed this,” Jensen said, patting Jared on the leg, leaving his ‘I miss you’ unspoken.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Jared replied softly.

Jensen swallowed thickly, unsure how to explain it, but it felt like the room was rapidly becoming charged with an energy that made him feel a combination of dizzy, weak and exhilarated all at the same time. It left him feeling confused more than anything.

He nearly jumped out of his skin hearing his phone vibrating across his nightstand. Reaching out for it, his eyes closed briefly after looking at the display across the screen. Danneel was calling him. Again.

He loved his girlfriend. He knew that. But he couldn’t understand why it seemed like the universe was suddenly conspiring to ruin any and all plans he made with Jared recently.

They were friends. Best friends! Couldn’t they hang out together for more than five minutes without being interrupted anymore? It sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

He gave Jared an apologetic look. “It’s Danneel. I’m sorry,” he muttered, squeezing Jared’s shoulder. Looking into his friend’s eyes Jensen thought he could see the vibrancy that’d been in Jared’s gaze fade slightly. Shaking off his thoughts, he flashed Jared a brief smile as he finally answered the phone.

“Don’t worry about it, man,” Jared insisted, leaning back into the pillows on Jensen’s bed, pulling out his own phone, beginning to text with someone.

Chad probably. Jensen thought bitterly before turning his attention to his conversation with Danneel.

“You’re what? Studying with Sophia? Nah, it’s okay. I’m hanging with Jared. He can keep me company,” he told his girlfriend, his eyes naturally seeking out Jared as he spoke, giving his friend a weak smile. “Okay, honey. Love you too.”

After he’d said his goodbyes to Danneel, he sunk back onto the bed, burying his face in his hands for a moment after tossing his phone back onto his nightstand.

“Hey, Jen, you okay?” Jared asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Jensen turned toward Jared, giving him a tired smile before shaking his head.

“I honestly have no idea,” he admitted.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jared encouraged him.

Jensen shook his head. “Not really. All I really want to do is sit here on this bed and watch bad TV with my best friend.” 

“If you’re sure. Listen, I was just texting with Chad…”

“How is Murray?” Jensen choked out, barely holding back his nausea at the thought of Jared and Chad getting closer. He had no idea why he was letting this bother him so much. It was frustrating. And Jensen knew he should just talk to Jared about it. If he did he’d probably find out all of his fears were unfounded, but there were still some pretty unsettling thoughts floating around in the back of his mind.

“He’s fine,” Jared said. Jensen’s hand curled into a fist at his side at the sight of Jared’s face softening as he thought about Chad.

“So, what’d he want?” Jensen demanded, glaring at the television.

“He said we could come over for a while if we wanted,” Jared said.

“Did he now? How generous of him,” Jensen spat, his jaw clenching, his eyes unwavering from the television.

“It might help, Jen. Distract you from whatever’s bothering you,” Jared insisted.

Jensen snorted, rolling his eyes. “Right. You and I both know Chad would rather you just come alone. So why don’t you just leave already?”

Jared looked stunned by Jensen’s reaction for a moment but then Jensen watched as his friend’s gaze hardened. “What the hell crawled up your ass?” he demanded, getting off the bed, circling it until he was by Jensen’s side again.

“I’m just sick of every other word out of your mouth being about Chad. Do you ever stop to take my feelings into consideration about all of this?” Jensen demanded.

“More than you know,” Jared growled, his gaze steely.

“Like hell,” Jensen muttered, tears stinging his eyes as he held them back.

“You know what, Jensen? Screw you,” Jared said viciously before turning on his heel, walking out of Jensen’s room, slamming the door behind him.

Jensen stared at the closed door for several minutes before the tears started sliding silently down his face.

**

“God, you should’ve heard him. ‘Why don’t you care about me as much as you care about Chad’?” Jared grumbled mockingly. His body was trembling in anger as he paced the length of Chad’s bedroom, thinking about how he’d left things with Jensen.

“Slow down a minute, Jared. Isn’t this a good thing? Jensen’s obviously jealous and is beginning to question how he feels about you,” Adrianne said. Both she and Chad were sitting on his bed watching Jared as he struggled to calm down.

Jared growled in frustration, running a hand roughly through his hair.

“That’s exactly why I’m so pissed off at him! It’s so friggin’ obvious to everyone that he has feelings for me, so why the hell hasn’t he acted on them!?”

“I dunno, man. It’s probably because he hasn’t come out to himself yet,” Chad said with a shrug. Jared and Adrianne stared at him in disbelief. “What?” he demanded when he caught their nearly identical looks of confusion.

“We’re…we’re just a little stunned, Chad. We’ve never heard you be so insightful,” Adrianne stammered, shooting Jared a helpless look as heat rose to her face.

Jared smirked at her, chuckling softly before shaking his head and returning his attention to Chad.

“Thanks, man. Adrianne’s right. That’s something I hadn’t thought of. But it makes perfect sense. I’m just surprised I didn’t think of it first,” he replied, the guilt he was experiencing gnawing at him as he thought about how confused and scared Jensen must’ve been.

“No, Jared. I’m not going to let you feel guilty over having unrequited feelings for Jensen just because you hadn’t figured he’d still be denying the truth to himself!” Adrianne snapped, glaring at him, obviously somewhat deflecting her own feelings over her awkwardness with Chad onto Jared.

“So, what now?” Chad asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked between the two of them.

“Tomorrow you and I are gonna take our relationship to the next level,” Jared told him with a tired smirk.

**

The next morning Jensen caught up with Danneel in the hallway. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he successfully stopped her trip toward her locker.

“Hey, beautiful,” he murmured in her ear, his lips brushing along the exposed skin of her neck.

Grabbing onto his hands he felt her move around in the circle of his arms until she was facing him.

“Not that I’m not enjoying this sudden burst of PDA, but Jensen, we’re at school. There’s a time and place for everything, including PDA, and this isn’t it. I just spent six hours yesterday cramming for a test in AP Bio that’s half my grade. I’d really hate for all of the time and energy Sophia’s invested in trying to help me retain this stuff to be wasted just by a simple kiss,” Danneel said, swallowing thickly as her eyes zeroed in on Jensen’s mouth.

Jensen stared at her smugly, nudging his nose gently against hers.

“I’m really that good of a kisser, huh?” he asked.

“Damn right, gorgeous,” she readily agreed. “Now you let me go take my test and we’ll meet up afterwards and I’ll drag you off to a deserted hallway or alcove and you can show me just how talented you really are,” she promised, her finger pressing against his lips for a moment. And then she was gone.

Watching her retreating figure as she made her way down the hallway, Jensen sighed heavily, an amused grin on his face. She was perfect…and not for the first time, he found himself wondering how he could’ve gotten so lucky having a girl like Danneel in his life.

As he walked to class he suddenly drew up short when he saw Jared outside a classroom with Chad. But of course. God forbid Jared be anywhere without Chad right under foot. He thought to himself, rolling his eyes in disgust. And then in a matter of minutes his entire world was shaken to its core.

He watched wordlessly as Jared slowly entered Chad’s personal space, cupping his hands gently on either side of Chad’s face, the other boy surging upward as their lips met.

Debating on whether or not it would be a good idea to go up to Jared and demand just what in the hell was going on, Jensen let the sudden anger he was feeling take control.

They quickly broke apart just as he approached. Catching Jensen scowling at him, Chad flashed a nervous smile.

“Uh, I better let you two talk. I’ve got a class now or something anyway. I’ll see you later, okay, Jared?” Chad promised, his fingers slowly sliding out of Jared’s grasp as the two of them finally broke contact.

“Definitely,” Jared agreed wholeheartedly, grinning as he and Jensen watched Chad head to his next class. “Damn, he’s something, huh?”

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Something being the operative word there.”

Jared chuckled, staring at Jensen in amusement which just infuriated Jensen all the more. “Okay, Jen, what’s wrong?” Jared finally asked him.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! Are you friggin’ serious right now, Jay? You were making out with Chad. Chad! Care to fill me in on what the hell you were thinking or did I just step into an alternate universe and not realize it?” Jensen demanded, practically seething, feeling himself tremble from anger and something else he couldn’t quite identify.

Jared put a hand on his shoulder, an apologetic smile gracing his features. “I know. This was a crappy way for you to find out. I’m sorry. He just…he makes me really happy, you know?”

“What’re you saying?” Jensen asked warily, terrified of the answer.

Jared sighed softly, ducking his head for a moment, his bangs falling into his eyes when he finally met Jensen’s gaze again. “Jensen, Chad’s my boyfriend.”

**

That afternoon Jared lay on the grass outside New Haven High, his head resting in Adrianne’s lap. He looked up at her as she absentmindedly played with his hair, running her fingers through it.

“Your hair is gonna be longer than mine before too long,” she murmured, a teasing nature to her voice.

Jared snorted, grinning up at her. “Yeah, I’m sure it will be,” he agreed with a distracted sigh.

“He was really upset?” she asked carefully, her brow creasing in concern.

“Yeah, he was. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that angry,” Jared admitted. 

“Give him time. He’ll come around,” Adrianne insisted.

“You mean like I did with Danni?” Jared demanded. Sitting up, he ran his hands over his face and through his hair, sighing again. “We wouldn’t be in this friggin’ mess to begin with if I wasn’t so jealous. And now Jensen’s jealous, Chad’s frustrated and you…you’re still in denial. The one silver lining in all of this is that Sophia seems to be making progress with Danni. So that’s something I guess.”

“What’s Chad got to be frustrated about? And what the hell do you mean I’m in denial? In denial about what?” Adrianne asked, clearly confused by Jared’s statement.

“Give it time. It’ll come to you,” Jared muttered sarcastically.

“Hey, jerk, what happened to my friend Jared? Can you bring him back please?” Adrianne asked, glaring at Jared.

“Jesus, Adrianne. I’m sorry. Guess I’m just frustrated by all of this too. You know what? I could really use a drink. How about we grab Chad and Sophia and hit up The Road?”

Adrianne shook her head. “Sophia can’t. She’s spending more time with Danni and Jensen tonight. But Chad and I can go with you if you want?” she offered.

“Perfect,” Jared murmured tiredly, leaning over and kissing her on the head.

“Yeah, perfect. Just the way I wanted to spend my Wednesday night. Hauling your melancholy drunk ass around town,” Adrianne replied, shaking her head in tired amusement.

“I know it doesn’t sound very appealing, but I’ll take any bit of happiness I can at this point. Even if it’s artificial,” Jared said, picking up a clump of grass and tossing it in front of him.

“Okay. I get it. Believe me. And hey, it could be fun to forget our troubles for a while, right?” Adrianne asked.

“That’s the hope,” Jared agreed with a nod.

**

Later that night Jensen stood in Sophia’s living room, pacing back and forth in front of the couch Danneel and Sophia were sitting on.

“Dammit! I just…I don’t get it! We’re supposed to be best friends. And best friends tell each other the important shit in their lives, right? I mean, Sophia you told Danni that you’re a lesbian,” he muttered.

Danneel’s brow furrowed and she slowly turned toward Sophia. “You’re a lesbian?”

Sophia swallowed hard, smiling weakly in Danneel’s direction. “Um, yeah. Surprise?”

Jensen’s eyes widened. “Shit. I didn’t mean to out you, Soph. I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

The girls looked at him and then each other and started giggling. “Oh my god, Jensen. You make it so easy sometimes. Of course Danni knows I’m a lesbian,” Sophia said, her eyes dancing with mirth.

Jensen snorted, laughing along with them. “Thanks, I needed that. I don’t even know why I’m letting this bother me so much. So what if Jared didn’t tell me that he and Chad are a couple now? Not until they got caught at least,” he grumbled, collapsing onto the couch next to his girlfriend and burying his face in his hands.

“Maybe we should just watch the movie now, huh, baby? It’ll help keep your mind off things,” Danneel suggested, running her hand along his back.

Jensen nodded miserably. “Maybe you’re right. Look, Sophia, I’m sorry for crashing your girls’ night with Danni,” he apologized, giving his friend a weak smile.

“Don’t worry about it, Jen. I’m just glad you were able to vent with us,” Sophia replied, returning the smile.

As they settled in to watch the movie, Jensen’s anger resurfaced and as the opening credits started rolling across the screen it all came tumbling out of his mouth in a rush. “What’s fucking unbelievable about this whole thing though? Is that he’s with Chad. I mean, it…it’s Chad! What the hell does he see in that smartass perv anyway? I don’t get it. What the hell does Murray have that…that…God, what the fuck!?” he exclaimed in frustration.

“As crazy as it may seem sometimes, you can’t explain love, Jensen. It just is,” Danneel told him softly, her hand continuing to run soothing circles into his back, easing the tension he’d built up.

Jensen nodded emphatically. “You’re right. I know you’re right. And I know I need to be supportive of him right now. I mean, he’s my friend. My best friend. And if I can’t be there for him, who will?”

“You’re a good friend, Jensen. And you and Jared have more in common than even you realize,” Sophia said. “You both have masochistic tendencies for starters,” she muttered nearly inaudibly.

“I think we’re all a little bit guilty of that,” Danneel murmured, resting her hand on Sophia’s knee.

“Am I missing something here?” Jensen demanded, shooting both of the girls a look of confusion.

“No!” Danneel and Sophia exclaimed in unison, both of them averting their gazes from Jensen and each other, Danneel’s face reddening under her boyfriend’s scrutiny as her hand slid off of Sophia’s knee.

Sighing heavily, Jensen leaned back into the couch and struggled to return his focus on the movie. He watched in mild amusement as Sophia rolled her eyes in frustration before looping her arm through Danneel’s and resting her head on his girlfriend’s shoulder. It was a position he’d seen her in numerous times before with Jared.

And he was glad to see that at least someone’s friendship continued to grow stronger even if it felt like his friendship with Jared was becoming something he barely recognized with every passing day.

**

Jared stumbled out of The Road that night, his arms slung over Chad and Adrianne’s shoulders.

“I love you, guys. You know that? Although not as much as I love Jensen. Thas’ okay though ‘cause I know you don’t love me as much as you love each other. It’s kinda adorable, ya know? I can’t share the whole mutual attraction thing with Jen yet, but the three of us…” he said, motioning between himself, Adrianne and Chad, nearly falling on his face as he did so, but Chad hauled him upright, while Adrianne kept a firm hold on his arm. “The three of us share a mutual suffering,” he said, laughing hysterically until the laughter morphed into broken sobs.

“All right, Jay, time to get you home. You need to sleep this off,” Chad grumbled, yanking open the backseat of his car, watching as his friend half-crawled, half-fell into the backseat before passing out.

“Chad, what Jared said…is it true?” Adrianne finally asked as they made their way to Jared’s house.

“I think it’s painfully obvious the guy’s ass-over-backwards crazy for Jensen, wouldn’t you say?” Chad replied, giving her a smirk.

Adrianne glared at him. “Dammit, Chad! Stop being such a smartass. For once I’m actually not talking about Jared and his feelings! I’m talking about yours and…and mine.”

Chad raised an eyebrow. “You had feelings? Who knew, Palicki?”

“God! Why the hell I thought it’d be a good idea to be honest with you…you’re such a jackass!” Adrianne exclaimed angrily.

“Honest with me? About what?” Chad asked slowly, his demeanor immediately sobering.

“Jared was right, okay? About me having feelings for you. I don’t know if I’d call them love…” Adrianne choked out, turning slightly green. “But they are there,” she admitted.

Chad drew in a sharp breath through his nose. “Yeah? Well, Jay’s two for two then because I sort of have feelings for you too.”

Adrianne raised an eyebrow, clearly amused, her features softening the longer she looked at him. “Okay then. Well, Saturday is the dance, so we’re gonna have to come up with a way for you to ask Jared to go with you in front of Jensen,” she said, almost effortlessly switching gears.

Chad grinned broadly at her. Yeah, this thing between them, whatever it was, could be a lot of fun. And he couldn’t wait to see where it would lead.

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Friday during lunch, Jensen sat next to Danneel, Sophia naturally on her other side and Jared sitting across from him, instead of next to him like they had every day from the minute they’d become friends. Ever since Jared and Chad had made it official, the two of them sat next to each other at lunch, Jensen doing his best not to let it bother him.

So what if it was yet another thing that’d changed between them? Jared was happy. And that was what counted. At least that was what Jensen kept telling himself.

His eyes kept darting back and forth between Danneel and Jared, his leg jiggling from nerves as he wondered if he should do what he was thinking about, right then? He didn’t want to hurt Jared any more than he obviously had, but he needed to get this over with.

“Jensen, stop twitching, baby. You’re shaking the whole table,” Danneel scolded him lightly, covering his hand with her own, her lips brushing the side of his mouth.

He immediately stopped moving, flashing a nervous smile at her, then at Jared who just looked on in amusement as Jensen’s tongue darted out of his mouth and he rubbed the back of his neck.

Oh, screw it. He thought resolutely, taking a hold of Danneel’s hands in his own.

“Danni, I-I wanted to, I mean, will you go to the dance with me tomorrow night?” he stammered, looking at her hopefully, his eyes searching out Jared, despite his attempts to keep his attention on his girlfriend.

He saw Jared smile at them, yet there was a sadness in his eyes that Jensen was sure was reflected in his own every time he saw his best friend with Chad. It just hurt sometimes. This whole “growing up” thing they were doing.

“Of course I will, Jensen,” Danneel replied softly, pulling him into a hug.

As happy as Jensen was by Danneel’s answer, he realized that all he really wanted to do in that moment was take Jared somewhere so they could talk privately. He had no clue about what exactly, he knew he just needed to talk to Jared. It seemed like it’d been forever since the two of them had had a real genuine heart-to-heart about where their lives were headed.

But before he got the chance, Chad was there, covering Jared’s eyes with his hands.

“Guess who?” he murmured into Jared’s ear. Jensen watched with growing unease as the edges of Jared’s mouth lifted upwards into a smile.

“It couldn’t possibly be my boyfriend. He told me he’d be in the library studying during lunch,” Jared insisted.

“Well, I lied,” Chad told him, moving his hands away from Jared’s eyes and pulling a rose from his back pocket. “Jared, will you go to the dance with me?” he asked, handing Jared the rose.

Jensen watched as Jared’s gaze naturally sought out his for a moment, conveying silently how uncomfortable the situation was making him. It was almost like Jensen was intruding on something far more private and intimate. It left a metallic taste in his mouth when he swallowed.

Jared nodded in response to Chad’s question, his eyes brimming with unshed tears before pulling his boyfriend into a deep kiss. 

And just like that, Jensen had completely lost his appetite. Shoving his tray away from himself, he got to his feet and walked out of the cafeteria.

**

After lunch Jared held the rose Chad had given him in one hand, taking a hold of Chad’s outstretched hand with the other.

Keeping up the pretense of boyfriends the two of them walked hand-in-hand down the hallway together until they reached Adrianne’s locker. Adrianne met them there a few minutes later, a harried smile on her face.

“Hey, guys. Ooh, nice rose, Jared,” she said, winking at him.

“Yeah, now if only I could get Jensen to look at me the way Chad has been pretending to,” Jared murmured, staring at the rose in his hand.

Chad nudged his shoulder. “We’ll get him there, Jay. Don’t worry. Sophia told me he couldn’t stop talking about you the other night, even with Danni right next to him. I guess he can’t understand why you would choose to be with somebody like me,” he replied, giving Jared a broad grin.

“He really said that?” Jared asked hopefully, a faint smile on his face.

“Yep. I figure tomorrow night at the dance will be just what he needs to make him realize what he could have with you,” Chad insisted. “Speaking of the dance… Adrianne, has anyone asked you to go?” he asked, leaning into the bank of lockers next to hers.

Adrianne rolled her eyes, her bangs flying up as she let out a frustrated breath. “You know nobody has, Chad. I just think I’ll spend tomorrow night getting ahead on an essay I’m working on for English.”

Jared watched his friends in silence as Chad held his breath, unable to tear his gaze from Adrianne as she finally yanked her locker open.

“So, uh, Palicki, listen, I know technically for appearance sake I’m going to this thing as Jared’s date, but uh, I was kinda hoping you’d maybe want to go with me to the dance?” Chad asked her, his words tripping over themselves in their attempt to leave his mouth.

Adrianne stared into the depths of her locker for a moment before turning toward them again, a stunned expression on her face.

“You-you decorated my locker? Just to ask me to a stupid dance?” she asked, tears clouding her vision.

“Dammit. I knew I should’ve given you the rose and pimped Jay’s locker,” Chad muttered, chastising himself.

“Chad, shut up, you idiot,” Adrianne murmured, pulling Chad forward and kissing him.

“So is that a ‘yes’?” Chad asked, leering at her when they broke for air. Adrianne just smiled at him before pulling him forward again.

Jared shook his head in amusement, glad that the two of them had finally figured things out.

Leaving Chad and Adrianne alone it wasn’t until he spotted Sophia, with her arm wrapped around Danneel, he realized he’d gone in search of Jensen.

“Hey, guys. You haven’t-you haven’t seen Jensen have you?” he asked worriedly. He hated that he and Jensen hadn’t really spoken more than a few sentences to each other the past few days. They normally only ever went a few hours at a time during the day go by without speaking to one another when they had separate classes.

“Hey, Jay. I’m here,” Jensen said, coming up behind him.

Feeling himself relax, Jared turned toward his best friend. He couldn’t be certain but he could’ve sworn he saw both Sophia and Danneel visibly relax at seeing the two of them together. Shooting them a quick, confused, cursory glance he immediately returned his attention to Jensen.

“Hi, Jen. Do you…do you maybe want to get out of here for a while? Go somewhere and talk?” he asked hesitantly. He hated that he sounded unsure. Normally he wouldn’t hesitate asking Jensen something like this, especially with everything having been so rocky between them recently.

Giving him a tired smile, Jensen nodded. “Yeah, sure, Jared. It is Friday after all. I owe you a ride, right?”

Jared nodded in agreement, relief flooding him at Jensen’s words.

“Yeah, I’d like that. You ready now or…?” he asked, nodding meaningfully in Danneel’s direction. Jensen gave him a grateful smile, rubbing his back briefly as he walked by him to converse quietly with Danneel.

Moving away from them, Sophia turned a bright smile on Jared, which he returned. Pulling her close he kissed the top of her head. “Hey, sweetheart. You having fun with Danni?”

“Yeah, I am. It’s nice to see you and Jensen finally getting some time alone,” Sophia said.

“Mmmhmm,” Jared hummed happily in agreement.

A few minutes later, Jensen was back by his side and Sophia had drifted back over to Danneel.

“Hey, Jared. Take care of him for me, will you?” Danneel asked, glancing over at Jensen who just shook his head and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Don’t worry, Danni. I don’t know how to do anything else,” he promised. She grinned at him and waved before taking a hold of Sophia’s hand and leading her down the hallway.

“Can we go now?” Jensen asked Jared hopefully.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jared murmured, unable to wipe the broad grin from his face as Jensen took a hold of his hand, leading him out toward the parking lot.

**

“Jen, are you all right? You seem kind of distracted,” Jared said as they made themselves comfortable on the bridge stretched out over the lake.

Jensen smiled fondly. “Remember that time Adrianne threw your X-Men pencil case into the lake?”

Jared laughed, nodding. “I remember being pissed at her for a week. But I also remember how sweet you were sharing your Spiderman pencil case with me for the rest of the year,” he said, resting his hand on Jensen’s shoulder.

Jensen swallowed thickly, breathing deeply through his nose as he averted his gaze for a moment. “Best friends, man. I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t have done that for just anybody, you know.”

“I know, Jen. You gonna tell me what’s wrong?” Jared asked softly, staring at Jensen in concern.

Jensen ran a hand over his face in an attempt to pull himself together as images of Jared’s expression earlier that afternoon when Chad had given him the rose, suddenly flooded Jensen’s mind. “Jay, you ever wish you could not see something? I mean, something that you saw…Dammit, this isn’t coming out right. I guess what I’m trying to say is, have you ever had a secret that you want to tell somebody, but you know that if you tell that person it could destroy their happiness?”

“Yeah… yeah, I have,” Jared murmured, giving Jensen a broken smile before turning his gaze to his shoes.

Jensen felt his breath catch in his throat at Jared’s honesty. “What’d you do?” he asked quietly.

“Nothing,” Jared replied, giving Jensen a rueful smile.

“Well, listen, I’m here if you ever want to talk about it, okay? Whatever it is, I promise I won’t laugh or freak out,” Jensen insisted.

Jared nodded firmly. “Sure, you say that now. But the truth always ends up hurting someone in the process, right?”

“I guess. But it also has the power to set a person free. I don’t want you trapped if you don’t need to be, Jay. I mean it. You can come to me for anything. Best friends. Nothing is ever going to change that,” Jensen promised, gently pulling Jared closer until his friend’s head was nestled into the crook of his neck.

**

Saturday night Jared and Chad met Adrianne and Sophia by the punch bowl in the overly decorated gymnasium.

“Honestly, I think the decorating committee could’ve hung-up just a little more crepe paper,” Sophia muttered, rolling her eyes as she looked around the gym in disgust. 

Adrianne snorted, a knowing smirk lighting up her features. “Oh, I don’t know, Soph. I think you’re just focusing on the crappy décor so you won’t have to watch that,” she said, pointing to the center of the room where Jensen and Danneel were dancing.

“Christ, I think I’m gonna puke,” Jared mumbled, unable to tear his gaze away from the scene in front of him, feeling the three cheeseburgers he’d wolfed down only a few hours earlier trying to resurface.

“No time, Jarebear. We’ve gotta go make your boy a little more jealous,” Chad insisted, taking Jared’s hand and leading him toward the dance floor. Before they got too far away from the girls, Chad turned back around, giving Adrianne a lengthy onceover. “Palicki, you’ve never looked lovelier, sweetheart.” 

Leaving Adrianne glowing from the unexpected compliment, Jared turned a soft smile on his friend.

“I think this whole relationship thing is agreeing with you, man. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you or Adrianne this happy before.”

Chad shrugged. “Yeah, well, let’s go get you a boyfriend and you and Adrianne can compare notes sometime in the near future, huh?”

Jared chuckled, leaning toward Chad as they began to sway slowly back and forth in time to the music that was playing over the loudspeakers.

“That idea certainly has its appeal. Is he watching us?” he muttered as Chad moved them around so Jared’s back was to Jensen and Danneel.

“Oh, yeah. He’s still trying to put up the pretense of dancing with Danni, but he’s fighting a losing battle. And once again I’m thanking God that the guy’s death glares aren’t actually lethal. Holy crap,” Chad said, shuddering as Jensen’s gaze hardened the longer he looked in their direction.

As they continued to move, Jared was soon facing Jensen once again. And the expression on his best friend’s face left Jared feeling a mixture of elation and heartbroken. He couldn’t remember ever seeing Jensen so miserable or pissed off all at the same time.

“They’ve stopped dancing. And Danni’s gone over to talk to Sophia and Adrianne. Now Jensen’s just looking over here. He looks really mad. Okay, pretend like you’re actually enjoying dancing with me,” Jared mumbled, giving Chad an overly bright smile.

Chad snorted. “Shows what you know. I actually like this song,” he muttered, making Jared laugh again.

And then without warning Jared felt Jensen grab onto his wrist.

“I’d say I’m sorry for interrupting, but honestly I’m not,” he said, giving Chad a forced smile before turning his attention to Jared. “I need to talk to you.”

And before Jared could get a word in edgewise, Jensen had dragged him out of the gym and didn’t stop walking until they were in front of a bank of lockers. Jared’s eyes roamed over his friend’s features, curious as to what Jensen was thinking.

“Jensen, was there a reason you dragged me away from Chad? Because if not, I’d really like to get back to my boyfriend now,” he said, aching to pull Jensen forward and shake him for being so oblivious.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing with Chad?” Jensen demanded, glaring at him.

Jared threw his arms up in exasperation. “I don’t know, Jensen. But since you seem to be such an expert on my relationship why don’t you tell me!?”

“Dammit, Jay! Don’t you get it? I’m an expert on you! I know you better than anyone, and I can tell when you’re miserable. What is Chad doing to you? What the hell is he doing to make you so goddamned unhappy?”

“Nothing, all right!? We love each other. He loves me, okay? Which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for…” Jared stopped mid-sentence, swallowing hard as he realized what he’d almost blurted out. He grew quiet as he stared at Jensen warily, afraid he’d already gone too far.

“What? What are you so afraid to tell me? And Jay, if this is you happy I really think you need to re-evaluate your relationship,” Jensen insisted.

“So I can be more like you with Danni? No, thanks,” Jared muttered with a snort, rolling his eyes.

“What the hell is your problem?!” Jensen demanded.

“Really, you haven’t figured that out by now? I thought you knew me better than anyone? Oh, wait. I forgot. It’s you that you don’t know. My mistake,” Jared snarled before leaving Jensen standing out in the hallway by himself.

**

Sunday afternoon Jensen was over at Danneel’s house, doing his best to keep the fight he’d had with Jared the previous night off his mind.

The two of them were in Danneel’s bedroom stretched out on her bed. They’d been making out for close to a half hour. When they broke apart, Jensen smiled at his girlfriend, smoothing a hand over her hair for a moment before helping Danneel remove the tight-fitting t-shirt she wore.

And then he sat up and pulled his own t-shirt over his head. When he got to his feet and straddled her hips, she raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“What’re you doing, Jensen?” she asked.

“Well, I was going to have sex with my girlfriend, but if you’d rather have another How I Met Your Mother marathon I guess I’d be okay with that,” Jensen murmured, a teasing smile on his face as he leaned forward and kissed Danneel softly on the mouth. She pulled away from him, giving him an expectant look.

“Really? You’re gonna make me bring him up?” she demanded quietly.

“Who?” Jensen asked, the confusion he was feeling flooding his features.

“Dammit, Jensen. You know it’d be funny if it wasn’t so sad or well, obvious,” Danneel muttered, flashing him a tired smile.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Jared,” Danneel replied.

Jensen averted his gaze from her eyes briefly, swallowing hard as he shook his head in an attempt to clear it of thoughts he’d rather not be thinking about. Like how hurt Jared had been by his words. Or how confused he’d been with the way Jared had reacted to what he’d told his friend in an attempt to protect him.

“Okay, you’ve completely lost me. What does Jared have to do with you not wanting to have sex with me?” he asked, dropping his hands away from her shoulders and climbing off her lap, watching in disbelief as she pulled her shirt back over her head.

“Everything, Jensen! And trust me, if there wasn’t him there’s also Sophia to consider,” Danneel insisted, glaring at him.

“Wait. You have feelings for Jared too? What the hell? You do know he’s gay, right? And what does Sophia have to do with any of this?”

Danneel rolled her eyes. “Christ, you are buried in there, aren’t you?” she murmured, gently placing a hand against his temple. “Jensen, I have feelings for Sophia. And Jared…he’s in love with you.”

Jensen blinked stupidly at her for a minute or two as her words sunk in. “Oh my God. You’re…you’re serious, aren’t you? You actually think Jared is in love with me? Wow,” he said, laughing as he sunk back onto her bed. Shaking his head, he looked over at her, his eyes dancing in amusement. “Danni, Jared’s my best friend. Don’t you think I’d know if his feelings ran deeper than platonically?”

Danneel shook her head. “Honestly, no. And you want to know why?”

“Enlighten me,” he muttered.

“It’s because your feelings for him run deeper too.”

“What?” Jensen demanded, caught off-guard, his eyes widening in surprise.

“Relax, honey, it’s the 21st Century. Nobody gives a shit who likes who anymore. It’s okay to admit who you are, Jensen. It’s pretty liberating really,” Danneel said, almost as an afterthought. “Besides, you’re forgetting all the time you and I’ve spent together recently. All you talk about is Jared. It’s pretty obvious to anyone who knows you. And well, you’ve almost driven yourself crazy over the whole thing with Chad, right? Didn’t you ever ask yourself why you were so jealous?”

“I…I’m in love with Jared?” Jensen asked slowly, feeling the desire to run away in fear, cry and get a hold of Jared, apologize for the way he’d treated him, consume him all at the same time. He felt overwhelmed.

Danneel gave him a soft smile. “Yeah, you are.”

Jensen drew in a deep breath, running a hand over his face. “If you don’t mind I’m gonna need a little bit to process all of this. Can we talk about something else?”

“Take all the time you need, sweetie. Sure,” Danneel agreed in understanding.

“Actually, there is something I wanted to know,” Jensen admitted, smirking in Danneel’s direction.

Danneel stared pointedly at him. “I’m not about to get detailed, so don’t ask.”

Jensen held up his hands in surrender. “Relax, I’m not going nuclear here I promise. I just…I was wondering…the whole time you and I were together or whatever you want to call it…did you and Sophia…? I mean, did the two of you…?”

“No, Jensen, we weren’t sneaking around behind your back if that’s what you’re asking.” Seeing him nod, she continued. “We’d obviously gotten pretty close being lab partners and just started hanging out even more. We kissed for the first time last night during the dance while you and Jared were… Anyway, I knew I couldn’t lie to you anymore after that. Especially considering how much pain you were already in because of everything else. We’re uh, we’re still friends, aren’t we?” she whispered.

“God, Danni, of course we are,” Jensen insisted, resting his head on her shoulder. “I don’t know how I could’ve survived the past couple of weeks without you. Jared means so damn much to me and I’m terrified I’ll lose him. He’s my best friend, Danni. I can’t lose him now,” he said, feeling a slow, warm trail of tears start sliding down his face. He suddenly started laughing softly. “You’re right though. I do talk about him all the time, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s okay though, Jensen. It’s sweet,” Danneel replied, kissing the top of his head as she helped the two of them lean back onto her bed again.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Jensen agreed with a small smile.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

When Monday rolled around Jared met Chad by his locker.

“Hey, you and Jensen talking yet, man?” Chad asked, shoving his hands into his pockets after putting the books he needed for his next class into his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. Jared leaned heavily against the row of lockers.

“You mean since the fight we had Saturday night at the dance? No,” he replied with a sigh.

“Damn. I thought for sure you guys would be grossing us out with your cutesy couple-y thing by now,” Chad muttered, giving Jared an empathetic look.

“No such luck,” Jared whispered hoarsely, his bangs falling into his eyes as he swallowed thickly.

“Well, Jared, I promised to keep going with this whole charade until Jensen finally clued in about his true feelings for you. And I plan on keeping that promise. You want me to walk you to class?” Chad asked him.

Jared nodded, easily pulling his friend into a hug.

“I love you, Chad, you know that? In the purely platonic, brotherly type way I mean,” he murmured against Chad’s shoulder.

Chad chuckled. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I love you too, Jay.”

And the two of them walked towards Jared’s next class, grinning at each other as their arms brushed every so often.

**

Jensen hadn’t seen Jared all day, despite his efforts to catch his best friend in between classes. Feeling frustrated and lonely by the time school ended, he just wanted to go home and forget that Mondays were a thing.

As he rounded the corner near the closest exit, Jensen stopped suddenly, his breath catching in his throat. Across the hallway Chad was standing mere inches away from Adrianne, gently cradling her face in his hands. Swallowing hard, unable to believe what he was seeing, Jensen watched silently as Chad leaned forward and kissed Adrianne.

With his thoughts of Jared propelling him forward, Jensen pulled Chad away from Adrianne and shoved him against the wall.

“I knew you could be a bit of a jackass, Murray, but cheating? What the fuck were you thinking? Do you have any idea how much Jared loves you? How much this is going to kill him? You and Adrianne both… Jesus. What the hell are you doing?!”

“Not as much as it’s been killing him to see you and Danni together,” Chad retorted.

Jensen glared at him, his hands tightening their hold in Chad’s shirt.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he growled, a spasm of guilt washing over him as he thought about Jared’s unrequited feelings.

“Chad, don’t,” Adrianne pleaded when she caught Chad opening his mouth.

“No, Chad, tell me,” Jensen insisted, his gaze hardening as he goaded the other boy.

The very idea of anyone knowing something about Jared that he didn’t was driving Jensen somewhat crazy. Especially after he’d considered all the time he’d been trying, struggling really, to come to terms with how he truly felt about his best friend. The only thing that was stopping Jensen from punching Chad in the face for being such a dick was knowing that for some reason Jared did have feelings for him.

“Jared loves you, you giant moron,” Chad muttered, shaking his head in disgust.

“All right. But that doesn’t excuse you from cheating on a guy you claim to love. Just because you’re jealous it doesn’t make what you’re doing right!” Jensen exclaimed in frustration.

“I’m not jealous that Jared has feelings for you. I’m just glad you’ve finally pulled your head out of your ass long enough to realize that he does,” Chad replied.

“God, Chad. Just shut up!” Adrianne moaned, glaring in Chad’s direction as she tugged on his arm in an attempt to pull him away.

“Why would you be happy that your boyfriend has feelings for someone else?” Jensen demanded.

“Chad! Let’s go! Now!” Adrianne snapped, continuing to try to get Chad to listen to her.

“Dammit, Adrianne! No! Jensen deserves the truth, don’t you think? I thought I could keep doing this for Jared’s sake, but it’s just hurting everyone at this point. And honestly, I want to be able to make out with my girlfriend without having to worry about getting slammed for it every twenty minutes!” Chad roared, his chest heaving as he glared at Adrianne before returning his attention to Jensen.

All the color drained from Jensen’s face at Chad’s words. “What the hell’s going on, Chad?” he whispered hoarsely.

Chad sighed heavily, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment. “Jensen, I was pretending to be Jared’s boyfriend to make you jealous so you’d come to terms with your own feelings for him.”

Jensen ducked his head, nodding slowly. Meeting Chad’s gaze once again, he nodded for a second time before pulling back slightly and punching Chad in the face.

“Jensen!” Adrianne shrieked at him, quickly turning her attention to her boyfriend.

“Relax, Adrianne. I’ll be all right,” Chad insisted, flinching away from Adrianne’s hands, which fluttered around a bruise developing below his eye.

“Where the hell is he?” Jensen demanded, glaring at the two of them. “Jared. Where is he?”

“He’s at his house,” Adrianne finally replied.

Without a backward glance at either Chad or Adrianne, Jensen headed out to the parking lot intent on heading over to Jared’s house.

**

When Jared got home from school that afternoon he went to his room, throwing his backpack to the floor and flopping back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

He had no idea how he was going to get Jensen to talk to him again. He certainly didn’t blame Jensen for avoiding him. Not after the nightmare that’d been the school dance. Drama sucked and he really hated being in the middle of it.

He sat up on his bed when he heard someone pounding on the backdoor. He knew it wasn’t any of his friends because they would’ve just walked in, making themselves at home.

“What the hell?” he muttered, frowning as he left his room and made his way toward the door.

Warily, he slowly opened the door only to find Jensen standing in the doorway looking absolutely livid.

“Is it true?” he demanded in a low voice, making his way into Jared’s house.

“Is what true?” Jared asked, his confusion evident.

“That you were pretending to be Chad’s boyfriend just to make me jealous?”

Swallowing thickly, Jared’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment as he drew in a sharp breath, finally nodding.

“Yeah, I was,” he admitted. “But Jensen you have to understand…”

“No, you know what? I think I understand just fine, Jared. Instead of telling me how you felt you thought it’d be a better idea to lie to me,” Jensen insisted.

“Jen, please, it wasn’t that simple. You’re with Danni. You’re actually happy. And even if I was miserable I wasn’t going to kill your happiness. I get it, all right? You like her. I just want my best friend back,” Jared pleaded.

“Danni and I aren’t together anymore. She’s with Sophia. And since she’s such an amazing girl she helped open my eyes. She helped me realize what I could have with you. That I’m in love with you. That I always have been. But you know what? Sometimes love isn’t enough. How the hell can I trust you again after something like this? You lied to me for weeks! Weeks, Jared! So no, I’m sorry, but you’re not gonna get your best friend back. Guess I don’t know you as well as I thought. Congratulations, you just managed to kill our past and our future in one fell swoop,” Jensen said.

And with tears welling in his eyes, Jared watched as Jensen walked out the door.

**

Two Weeks Later…

Jensen sat next to Danneel and Sophia at what they’d recently christened their lunch table after his fight with Jared. The two of them hadn’t spoken for two weeks straight. And he wasn’t about to admit that he missed Jared even if it was painfully obvious to the girls.

Danneel sighed heavily, shaking her head. “Would you go talk to him already? You’re both so goddamned miserable. Haven’t you suffered enough?”

Jensen glared at her. “He lied to me. How the hell are we supposed to create a relationship based on lies!?”

Danneel rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to create a relationship! You already have one together. You’re supposed to build on it, idiot. Go forward together from here. Realize you’ve both screwed up, admit it and forget the crap, because honestly, Jensen, at this point all it is, is crap. You love each other. That’s all that really matters.”

“Love isn’t some magical Band-Aid, Danni! It’s not going to fix our problems,” Jensen insisted.

“Of course it won’t. Not if you’re not willing to let it help you. Jesus, Soph, a little help here?” Danneel muttered, turning her attention to her girlfriend.

“Jensen, Danni’s right. You and Jared love each other. Look at him and tell me he doesn’t look as miserable and sorry over this whole thing as you feel,” Sophia murmured.

Jensen turned around in his seat, easily spotting Jared at their usual table with Adrianne and Chad. Sophia was right. He did look miserable. From his vantage point, Jensen could see Jared hunched over his lunch tray, his hair falling into his eyes as he moved food around his plate without really eating anything.

“Dammit,” he growled, getting to his feet and making his way over to where Jared was sitting. Jensen stood in front of their table, slowly taking in Jared’s appearance, his posture, the way his eyes flicked upward when Jensen first approached before focusing his attention on the food that was on his plate again.

“He doesn’t want to talk to you, Jensen,” Chad insisted, shooting Jensen a glare.

“Shut up, Murray. I didn’t come over here to talk to you,” Jensen replied, his tone conversational, his gaze unwavering from Jared’s bent head.   
Quickly rounding the table, he slid into the empty seat next to Jared. “Jay, look at me. Please. I need…I need to talk to you, okay? Can we go somewhere and talk?” he pleaded softly.

He watched in giddy relief as Jared finally lifted his head and met his gaze.

“Okay, Jen. We can go talk,” Jared murmured in agreement, letting Jensen help him to his feet.

Jensen drew in a slow breath, hoping like hell that he wouldn’t screw this up as he led the two of them out of the cafeteria. He felt a faint smile curl his mouth as Jared took a hold of his hand.

**

Jared looked warily around the deserted alcove Jensen had led them to, wondering if he should’ve told Jensen they’d meet up later after school.

He gave Jensen a small smile. “So, you wanted to talk?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in Jensen’s direction.

Jensen cleared his throat, nodding in agreement.

“Yeah. I wanted to let you know that I really, really hate that guy,” he murmured, pulling Jared closer.

Jared did his best to ignore the jolt in his stomach at suddenly having Jensen’s arms wrapped around his waist.

“Who? Chad?” he asked, confusion flooding his features.

“No, I meant me, Jay. I hate the guy I’ve become through all of this. Jealous. Driven by anger. Cruel. I hate that I made you cry. It’s not who I am. That guy. Not really. You know that. I mean, you know me better than anyone, Jared. And you have to know how sorry I am,” Jensen insisted.

Jared swallowed thickly, tears welling in his eyes. “You’re sorry? Dammit, Jen. I’m the one who should be apologizing here. You were right. I should’ve been upfront with you about my feelings. If I’d been honest from the beginning none of this would’ve happened. It’s not your fault that you were still in the closet.”

“It wasn’t your fault either, Jared. Really, if you and Chad hadn’t faked your whole relationship I’d probably still be in denial about who I am. About my feelings for you. I love you, Jared,” Jensen replied softly, Jared leaning into his touch as he cradled Jared’s face against his palm.

“I love you too, Jensen. So much,” Jared finally whispered.

Jensen gave him a soft smile, his lips brushing Jared’s forehead before he carefully extracted himself from the hold he had on Jared for a moment.

It wasn’t until the music started playing that Jared realized there was a small stereo hidden in the alcove where they were standing.

“Dance with me?” Jensen asked, holding his arms open in invitation. 

“Wait a minute. This…this is Daniel Bedingfield, isn’t it?” Jared asked in surprise, stepping into Jensen’s arms as recognition washed over him.

“Yeah, well, 'He Don’t Love You Like I Love You' has always been our song, hasn’t it?” Jensen asked as they began swaying back and forth in each other’s arms.

“Yeah, but… Oh my GOD. Jen,” Jared choked out in a strangled whisper, the tears racing fast and hot as he buried his face in Jensen’s neck.

A few minutes later he pulled back when he heard Jensen singing along with the song as it played. Grinning, he leaned forward, tenderly kissing Jensen on the mouth.

“I do, you know,” Jensen murmured.

“You do what?” Jared asked.

“I want to build my life around you,” Jensen told him, mentioning a line from the chorus of the song.

Jared chuckled softly, shaking his head, leaning forward again until their foreheads were touching, his nose brushing against Jensen’s. “Too late. You already have, Jen. We both have, you know. It’s a part of being in love with one another. Of being in each other’s lives for as long as we have been. It was inevitable.”

Jensen grinned wolfishly up at him. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, Jay. God, I love you,” he muttered, brushing his lips against Jared’s.

Jared grinned into the kiss they shared, humming in agreement as they began dancing again. He knew that once the day was over their friends would more than likely get the truth out of him and Jensen about where they stood with their relationship, but for now Jared was going to enjoy the time alone he was sharing with his boyfriend. And that was more than enough.

THE END


End file.
